{"id":9,"date":"2016-07-12T13:46:35","date_gmt":"2016-07-12T12:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hebulstrode.co.uk\/?p=9"},"modified":"2017-04-04T13:08:01","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T12:08:01","slug":"the-genesis-of-old-crotchet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hebulstrode.co.uk\/?p=9","title":{"rendered":"The Genesis of ‘Old Crotchet’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The instant that I saw her and her companion, I knew that I would have to write about her. It was not only her face, but also her mode of dress and stature, as well as her stiff deportment, which invited comment. I cannot say that I fell in love with her, for I do not generally find women with thick leathery skin and unprepossessing looks topped off by a sinister expression appealing, but she did intrigue me. She also appeared to be somewhere in the region of four hundred years old. Whether the two of them are Jacobean or late Elizabethan, or merely fashioned to appear of that age, it is hard to say, but what can be said of them with some certainty is this: their appearance is singular.<\/p>\n

Lytes Cary Manor<\/a> in Somerset, the seat of the Lyte family from the 13th to the 18th centuries, was restored to its present charming state under the ownership of Sir Walter Jenner, who purchased the estate in 1907, but since 1949 it has been under the stewardship of the National Trust. It has served as home to these two antiquated ladies for an unspecified period of time, and who brought them into the house, and for what reason, has been long lost to memory. The guides at the house refer to these two figures as \u2018the good companions\u2019, and although their purpose is uncertain, it has been suggested that they were employed on those inauspicious occasions when thirteen diners were expected for dinner, with one, or both of them, being brought to table to make up the numbers. This detail was the germ around which the story of Old Crotchet <\/a>was to coalesce.<\/p>\n

Both the mannequins and their residence invited something of a supernatural treatment, and it was with a nod or two to M.R. James, that the idea of penning a ghostly tale against a festive backdrop suggested itself. That it has been published in the height of summer \u2013 insofar as it may be termed as such, given the autumnal feel to the weather of late \u2013 is somewhat inapposite, yet unavoidable, for having completed it in April, I did not wish to wait until winter to make it available to the public. This does however remain, in many respects, \u2018a ghost story for Christmas.\u2019<\/p>\n

It seemed apt to set it at a moment in the past when the old rural order was reaching its point of dissolution, and longstanding customs and folkways \u2013 such as wassailing, as detailed by Ronald Hutton in his \u2018The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain\u2019 \u2013 were dying out, or almost dead. There was no period of social disjuncture greater than that occasioned by the Great War of the last century, a conflict that hastened the decline of the country house and social deference, as well as accelerating technological development. It is thus the clash of the modern with the traditional, the urban with the rural, symbolised by the arrival of George with his young wife Celia in their Talbot Tourer, which awakens Old Crotchet, like some domestic guardian spirit, from her many centuries of slumber.<\/p>\n

Hinton St Cuthbert Manor exists in the imagination alone; it is something of a composite, an amalgam of the imaginary and the real, drawing elements and features from a number of historic houses in the south of Somerset. From Lytes Cary it takes its relatively modest dimensions and Great Hall, the latter with its beautiful vaulted ceiling, wooden panelling and stained glass windows providing the perfect setting for a Twelfth Night dinner. Other aspects of its appearance \u2013 its honeyed Hamstone exterior, barley twist chimneys and plasterwork ceilings for example \u2013 were drawn from Barrington Court and Montacute House, both of which are open to the public, and under the care of the National Trust.<\/p>\n

Although the publication of Old Crotchet<\/a> is out of season given its midwinter setting, it appears to be in step with an appetite to revive the ghost story for a contemporary television audience, as evidenced by the current screening of a new supernatural drama series by the BBC \u2013 \u2018The Living and the Dead.\u2019 This, coincidentally, also happens to be set in Somerset, albeit some three decades earlier in 1894.\u00a0 Like \u2018Old Crotchet\u2019, it focuses upon the theme of the intrusion of the modern and the metropolitan \u2013 in the form of Nathan and Charlotte Appleby \u2013 into the world of the traditional and the rural, and its coming leading to the awakening of a supernatural presence that has long lain dormant. That is where the similarities between the two come to an end, for the tone employed in each differs significantly, with Old Crotchet being shot through with a strong vein of wry humour, which is absent from the BBC production.<\/p>\n

From what I have seen thus far, \u2018The Living and the Dead\u2019 is handsomely filmed, and in terms of its look manages to capture its era successfully, although some of the characterisation is perhaps better placed in the 1990s rather than the 1890s. If you do not find its initial instalments engaging, it is worth persevering with, for it truly gets into its stride by the third episode. I shall reserve judgement on its overall merit until I have watched the entire series. Clearly, a considerable amount of investment has been ploughed into its production, yet for all that, a big budget need not be necessary to create a piece of television that elicits a sense of psychological unease in the viewer. One need look no further than Christopher Lee\u2019s masterful delivery of a number of M.R. James\u2019s tales in his \u2018Ghost Stories for Christmas\u2019, originally screened in 2000, for an example of what can be achieved using relatively modest resources. It is a great pity that he is no longer with us, and given that I have mentioned him, it would be remiss of me not to note that some reviewers have drawn parallels between \u2018The Living and the Dead\u2019 and \u2018The Wicker Man.\u2019<\/p>\n

Although the writers of the former appear to have drawn upon some elements of the latter, it falls far short of approaching the 1973 cult classic\u2019s atmosphere, originality and deranged air of menace, so eloquently embodied in Christopher Lee\u2019s Lord Summerisle. \u2018The Wicker Man\u2019,whose director Robin Hardy has just passed away, was a unique cultural artefact, very much of its time, with its texture being enriched by its idiosyncratic soundtrack. \u2018The Living and the Dead\u2019 should thus also be considered on its own terms, and seen as a reworking of certain supernatural themes with a contemporary audience in mind.<\/p>\n

Old Crotchet <\/a>is the first in a series of West Country Tales, many of which will possess a supernatural or occult element, as well as a marked streak of wry humour.\u00a0 To preview, or purchase Old Crotchet <\/a>for 99p or 99c, please click here<\/a>. This novelette is free to download for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.<\/p>\n

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